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The American "T"

The American "T"

Date: Dec 05 2008

Topic: Pronunciation

Author: nad1a

Lesson

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The American T

The American T is influenced very strongly by intonation and its position in a word or phrase. It can be a little tricky if you try to base your pronunciation on spelling alone.

There are, however, 4 basic rules: [T is T], [T is D] ,  [T is Silent], [T is Held].

1 The beginning of the  word  [T is T]
If the T is at the beginning of a word it is a strong, clear T sound.

  1. In the beginning of a word: table, take, tomorrow, teach, ten, turn Thomas tried two times.
  2. With a stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT and sometimes NT combinations: They control the contents.
  3. In the past tense, D sounds like T, after an unvoiced consonant sound — f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th (but not T).
    picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched [wächt], washed [wäsht]
    It took Tim ten times to try the telephone.

2 Middle of the word  [T is D]
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If the T is in the middle of the word, intonation changes the sound to a soft D.
Letter sounds like [ledder].

Water, daughter, bought a, caught a, lot of, got a, later, meeting, better

Practice these sentences:

What a good idea.

[w'd' güdäi deey']

Put it in a bottle.

[pü di di n' bäd'l]

Get a better water heater.

[gedda bedder wäder heeder]

Put all the data in the computer.

[püdall the dayd' in the k'mpyuder]

Patty ought to write a better letter.

[pædy äd' ride a bedder ledder]

3 [T is Silent]
T and N are so close in the mouth that the [t] can disappear.

  • interview [innerview]
  • international [innernational]
  • advantage [ædvæn'j]
  • percentage [percen'j]

If the T is at the end of a word, you almost don't hear it at all.

  • put, what, lot, set, hot, sit, shot, brought.
  • That's quite right, isn't it?

4 End of the word  [T is Held]


With -tain, -tten and some TN combinations, the T is held. The "held T" is, strictly speaking, not really a T at all. Remember, [t] and [n] are very close in the mouth. If you have [n] immediately after [t], you don't pop the [t]—the tongue is in the [t] position, but your release the air for the [n] not the [t]. An important point to remember is that you need a sharp upward sliding intonation up to the "held T," then a quick drop for the N.

Written, certain, forgotten, sentence:

  • He's forgotten the carton of satin mittens.
  • She's certain that he has written it.
  • Martin has gotten a kitten.

 

 

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Related Lessons:

More help on Pronunciation

 

 

Comments

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stino

stino

Italy

Hallo everybody

03:43 PM Jan 15 2015 |

nad1a

nad1a

Greece

An important point to make here would be that it would actually sound a little unnatural if you’re a beginner or not so fluent in English and try to actually speak that way. It is all about combining the right rythm and intonation. You would need to work on your fluency before trying to apply the information in this lesson in your speaking. You should first of all learn how to recognize the sound when you hear native speakers speak.

09:55 PM Oct 15 2011 |

murad ali

murad ali

Yemen

so userfule and close to the native speech

05:31 AM May 07 2011 |

samsiami

samsiami

Saudi Arabia

A good explanation, thank you very much.

10:00 AM Feb 07 2009 |

yongchun00

yongchun00

China

i like the way that you teach us . thanks a lot !!Laughing

04:44 AM Feb 07 2009 |

jimmy33

Guadeloupe

oh that was very very intersting. this is why when you listen to americans you don't understand them. if you know this characteristic of pronunciation you will understand easier too.

08:26 PM Jan 31 2009 |

Nikos

Nikos

Greece

Oh my God, where was I when you wrote this lesson??

It's great! Just like everything about you.

Thank you for existing. 

06:56 AM Jan 19 2009 |

AnimeGirl

AnimeGirl

Russian Federation

Good job Smile THank you ;)

03:04 PM Jan 09 2009 |

vivi bulat

Romania

Heloo nad1a,

You are very good teacher and your great job is SO useful to us who try to learn better English.

Thank you a lot for all and please keep it up!

God bless you!!!

05:57 AM Jan 04 2009 |

Oahu

Oahu

Japan

Splendid! It’s so helpful for me to not only speak but also listening English!

03:07 AM Jan 01 2009 |

Rita Reis

Rita Reis

Brazil

Very good. I will teach that to my students. Thank you

06:03 PM Dec 30 2008 |

nad1a

nad1a

Greece

well actually, the flapping sound we were talking about a little above, with my friend Matrix is exactly that. when pronounced a little faster sounds like the spanish R.

this is more obvious in words like: get up, shut up


10:13 AM Dec 30 2008 |

mubrik

Oman

Thank you for this great topic .

 But do Americans use R instead of T ?

 For example the word :

 WATER

 It seems to me like this when I hear it :

 WARER

Am I right ???

05:57 AM Dec 30 2008 |

whodon

whodon

Liberia

speak fine english, I can also write a good UK english, but what I want to improve is my intonation. I need a helper. I also want to learn another foriegn language apart from english

12:36 AM Dec 28 2008 |

master531

master531

China

I like this lesson very much, and your teaching style….

01:37 AM Dec 27 2008 |

Eza Robert

Eza Robert

Indonesia

Nadia, Thx

(T is D) that is not wrong (corectly the pronouncition)..... b/c my teacher from California, she often say in " writting" became the sound in "wriding" and so on,

good jobs, i like that….:)

03:01 PM Dec 26 2008 |

Eza Robert

Eza Robert

Indonesia

Nadia, Thx

(T is D) that is not wrong (corectly the pronouncition)..... b/c my teacher from California, she often say in " writting" became the sound in "wridding" and so on,

good jobs, i like that….:)

03:01 PM Dec 26 2008 |

Eza Robert

Eza Robert

Indonesia

Nadia, Thx

(T is D) that is not wrong (corectly the pronouncition)..... b/c my teacher from California, she often say in " writting" became the sound in "wridding" and so on,

good jobs, i like that….:)

03:00 PM Dec 26 2008 |

活力青苹

活力青苹

China

if there have some sound maybe better

 

12:50 PM Dec 26 2008 |

guruju

Nepal

I like your teaching styale.

Thank you

08:48 AM Dec 26 2008 |

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